I recently reinstalled and started playing RTW again, after a very long break. I bought the game when it was brand new and was disgusted at the buggy mess that was this game and how it sucked compared to MTW. The AI was laughably easy to exploit, the units were not balanced, and army variety was boring.
Now, I have the newest patch and have been playing the game both single and multiplayer. Firstly, yes, the AI still is a mess, thats a given. However, I don't really find that units rout too fast unless they are attacked from behind. Phalanxes no longer move constantly to the left/right and a solid block of half-decent infantry no longer folds to a frontal cavalry charge.
In multiplayer, I've had great fun playing against friends, we choose balanced armies and put skirmishers to great use, making feints with light cavalry and horse archers, before our main blocks engage each other. I don't really find that the MP battles go much faster than MTW's did, and the results are highly reliant on tactics and skill.
The animations are still incredably silly, units still freak out when approaching town centers, but I think the game isn't nearly as bad now as it used to be.
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